Zero Punctuation: Crackdown 2

[dennett316]

Yahtzee; I understand YOU dont like Online Multiplayer. But thats a selling point for some.

Some people like pitting their skills or playing with someone they never know before. Yes, there are bad experiences. But mostly, people dont run into issues. Sometimes, they even make FRIENDS that way. We know you dont like it, for whatever reason. A game critic refusing to acknoledge online muliplayer is like a food critic refusing to review food with basil on it.

While I agree having a Multiplayer focus is not an excuse to cut content, the CrackDown team simply gave fans what they wanted: a game to just fuck around with. They didnt bog it down with story, they gave you hordes of enemies, collection of lots of stuff, and a blank slate to fuck around with. The gang missions just served as a way to get you from A to B. Its not your cup of tea, but it is some peoples.

Those people are going to be the death of games.
Why remove content for a sequel, that's beyond stupid. Frankly, lots of stuff and a blank slate gets very boring very fast, and there's nothing much to fall back on when you get tired of throwing a car at a gang of mutants for the eleventy billionth time. What this essentially is, is a slightly larger scale version of State of Emergency on the PS2 - a riot simulator that was great fun for about 30 minutes until you realised that that was it, that's all the game was. So completely and utterly dull, it'd be laughable if it didn't excuse developers from having to be the least bit creative.

 

[Tarakos]

Aw, no mention of the asshole narrator? God, he makes the multiplayer unplayable with his asshole comments. Anyways, I deeply regret buying this game. I guess I thought that there'd be more to it than what was in the demo, and there really wasn't. And I think the reason that they recycled the setting from the first one is because Micro$oft gave them only 8 months to make this game. At least that's the hope.

 

[maddog015]

Is anyone else getting a weird sound at around 4:10?

That there is cell phone interference. Guess Yahtzee should record without his phone in the room. Or tell whoever else is in the room with him to shut their phone off.

Anyway, another quality vid.

 

[Stabby Joe]

I liked the original Crackdown but since they appear to have changed very little, after massive happy go explosion sandbox games like Red Faction Guerrilla and Just Cause 2 it's now lacking.

I mean in Just Cause 2 you could be more creative with more than just cars. Although you said female rebel leaders are good where in that game she's secretly villainous... oh wait, she's not white. Nevermind then haha!

...and yes Doom 2 was a great sequel.

 

[solidstatemind]

RE: the weird sound:

It's not really cellphone interference... well not directly, anyway. It's actually Bluetooth interference. The way Bluetooth works is that it scans occassionally to see if there is a better channel to connect on. What you're hearing is that scan registering on an audio device. If you have a cell that is doing it but don't have a Bluetooth headset, I'd be willing to bet you at least have the Bluetooth feature set to on, because when you're getting a call, the phone is checking to see if there is a Bluetooth headset out there to send the audio to.

My guess is that Yahtzee was using a Bluetooth mouse or something on a Laptop, and his mic picked it up.

On newer devices, you shouldn't hear it, because most of the device manufacturers have removed that specific range from the scan.

OT:

I was kinda hoping he'd do SC2, but I guess 2 days isn't long enough...

Or.. come to think of it, when was the last time he reviewed a PC title? And I don't mean one that is 360/PS3/PC compatible either...

 

[itf cho]

Funny review as usual for ZP, however...

Dear Mr. Croshaw,

Can you please stop reviewing console only games, and give us a review that some of us PC gamer types might be interested in? Out of the last four reviews, only one has been a game (Singularity) that has been available on the PC. I'm sure there are some multi-platform games out there that are worthy of a ZP review. After all, reviewing a Mario title sets the bar pretty damn low.

Thank you!

Well, the only major PC release lately has been Starcraft 2, which isn't out in Australia yet, and Yahtzee hates strategy games.

Huh? In just the last month we've seen

Arma II: Operation Arrowhead
Dragon Age: Leliana's Song
Blacklight: Tango Down
Alien Swarm
APB
Monkey Island 2: LeChucks Revenge
Transformers: War for Cybertron

and others...

 

[Hassao]

Great as always.

I wonder how long it's been since Crackdown1 has been released, because it seams the developers could of done that in a month or two.

 

[geizr]

Yahtzee makes a statement in this critique that, by some, may be considered simultaneously sexist and racist at the same time(it would have been brilliant if he could have made it anti-religious, too); it's when he talks about the beautiful, young female leader of the rebel gang and that the good guys have to be beautiful and white. Before people start jumping all over me, I'm not at all offended by the remark because I don't stick up my arse the size of the Chrysler building, as some other members of minorities and religious groups seem to have(I'm a black guy, in case you are wondering). What the statement did is make me pensive of the fact that it is a delightfully subtle observation of the woefully immature state of video games in regards to race and gender, in general.

In many ways, it seems like the attitudes of the games industry are completely exempt from the requirement that things move forward in time; instead, these same attitudes seem to be taking to moving backwards in time, at least relatively. More and more, I keep seeing trite retreads of old attitudes that have long since outdated reality and are just, at best, farcical ignorance. In many ways, it shows the insular nature of the games industry and the community as a whole with respect to connecting with the outside world.

Well, had to inject that bit of rant. I return you to your standard flame wars and mocking of others. Carry on.

 

[Jhales]

It seems that the designers were trying too hard to achieve the level of awesome that Crackdown 1 had. They chose to throw in a bunch of gimmicks which took away some of the stuff that made the previous game awesome, like the Agency vehicles which adapted and changed according to your skill.

They even threw in a physics linking ball so you can dick around more because doing the same stinking thing over and over again is boring.

But honestly, this is just the product of Microsoft Games throwing a bunch of money at a new company who has barely anything to do with the original game just because the head of Microsoft Games wanted a new Crackdown. Honestly, I would have gladly waited for Realtime Worlds to get to a point after APB came out where they could make a true, good sequel and continue from the ending of the first game.

 

[Stabby Joe]

Funny review as usual for ZP, however...

Dear Mr. Croshaw,

Can you please stop reviewing console only games, and give us a review that some of us PC gamer types might be interested in? Out of the last four reviews, only one has been a game (Singularity) that has been available on the PC. I'm sure there are some multi-platform games out there that are worthy of a ZP review. After all, reviewing a Mario title sets the bar pretty damn low.

Thank you!

Well, the only major PC release lately has been Starcraft 2, which isn't out in Australia yet, and Yahtzee hates strategy games.

Huh? In just the last month we've seen

Arma II: Operation Arrowhead
Dragon Age: Leliana's Song
Blacklight: Tango Down
Alien Swarm
APB
Monkey Island 2: LeChucks Revenge
Transformers: War for Cybertron

and others...

Not all of them are PC only though. I could see him reviewing Transformers but not the others, for example he doesn't review DLC and re-releases.

 

[Lonethiella]

As a WoW subscriber, I must say that there's nothing to fear about direct sunlight. It just needs to be handled in the same way as direct interactions with people and any sort of interaction with customer service: in small doses while covered in lotion to prevent skin damage. - BlueInkAlchemist

I agree with this as another WoW Subscriber. And I have a job in sunlight. Only thing that's happened to me so far is a tan. Damn you, sun!

 

[itf cho]

Not all of them are PC only though.

I'd rather he review games that ARE multi-platform available. Though I did pull those names from a list of PC reviews. But some of them are available on other platforms. That's a good thing in terms of reviews that are interesting to more people.

 

[duchaked]

am a bit surprised that he chose to do Crackdown 2, but he made a lotta good points
(bahaha WoW and Gears references)
personally, Crackdown 1 was a game I was having fun blasting through...but then I got so bored out of my mind I traded the game away forever. I'm sure having friends to play with woulda helped, but I couldn't find any friends who had the game or wanted to play it anymore. that's why I avoided the sequel...sure I might have some fun blasting and jumping through and around the city, but it'd only last as long as my online friends wanna play it and well...can't rely on people rawr haha

 

[geldonyetich]

At about the 4 minute, 12 second point, somebody's cell phone signal decided to participate in the Zero Punctuation review.

Anywho, sounds to me like they were too busy with APB to make Crackdown 2 a worthy successor.

 

[mitcherator]

Great Review as always, cheers!

 

[illiterate]

Is anyone else getting a weird sound at around 4:10?

Yes, we all did. It's the sound of a GSM cellphone going off way too close to a speaker or microphone. It's the 850 or 900 mhz (depending on which region you're in). 800 mhz nextels make a 'tick-tick-ti-tick-tick' sound

My awesome CDMA phone (GO USA DERP DERP) causes no such interference.

This knowledge comes of being a recovering cellphone nerd.

 

[bennbenn]

crackdown 2 is crap.

 

[Stabby Joe]

Not all of them are PC only though.

I'd rather he review games that ARE multi-platform available. Though I did pull those names from a list of PC reviews. But some of them are available on other platforms. That's a good thing in terms of reviews that are interesting to more people.

I'm not sure too many people actually care. Most people here commenting most likely haven't played Crackdown 2 or any other previous game before but they don't care, they just want Yahtzee to rip on them. The more interesting reactions come from fanboys who are more prominent on exclusive games.

 

[Orzene]

The day before the release of Crackdown 2, I switched my pre-order, bought StarCraft 1 (because I didn't own it, so fuck you), and then picked up Just Cause 2 off Steam.. this review sums up my thoughts nicely... I don't care how little a story the game has, but it should have some sense of progression, and not repetition. Essentially the "Assassin's Creed 1 effect" or "AC1 syndrome"

 

[Orzene]

It's not even that. The gameplay is so dynamic and varied in SR2, and it's f'ing crazy what you can pull off, so what more could you expect when you're essentially rubbing your testicles on someone's face while firing twin magnums into the chest of a cop?? :\ ... While on FIRE!!